Seeing Salvation
by MissRenthead
Summary: Set after season two. When Joan asks 'Where's my army' God gives her an answer, as well as cryptically rewriting history.
1. Cryptic

Seeing Salvation

Chapter one - Cryptic

"What's all the fuss about?" Joan entered the room, pausing at the commotion. Grace stood besides her, leaning against the table. People milled around the front of the room, and a teacher's faint cry of 'Sit down! Please!' was heard.

"New student." Grace said shortly.

"But it's the middle of the school year!" Joan exclaimed, temporarily confused. She slung her bag onto the table beside Grace and sat herself down. "Who is the new student?"

"How do I know? I just got here." Grace's tone carried a bitter edge. Her head was slumped deep into the palm of her hands.

"Everybody sit down, or I will have to start handing out detentions!" The teacher's voice resonated in the room, ringing clear at last in the students' minds. They dutifully sat down at their desks - the muttering eventually ceased.

The crowd had cleared, and Joan could see the object of their fascination at the front of the room. The girl stood unwaveringly next to the teacher, unfazed by all the ruckus. Wavelets of strong black hair ran like liquid down her back, and her eyes were a dreamy cerulean colour. She lifted her hand and waved at Joan - almost as if she knew her. Joan gave a sharp smile and bent her head down. She felt awkward under the girl's gaze.

"Class, I'd like to introduce you to Rill-ee Paronn." The teacher pronounced. She gave an unusual stress on Angel's name; it was extremely foreign to her tongue. "She's just moved here from Canada."

"Rile-e." The girl quickly corrected. Her voice was very quiet - but at the same time clear and full of melody. "Spelt r-i-l-e-e." 

"Yes, dear." The teacher said absentmindedly, already looking at the papers on her desk. "Please find a seat in the room, any seat will do." She didn't give Rilee a further glance and started to scribble on the blackboard. Rilee rolled her eyes and looked around the room. All the seats were taken up except the ones right at the back, behind Joan and Grace.

"Nice name." Friedman chuckled as she walked past him to the back. She ignored him, walking faster. Glynis gave Friedman a smart shove. 

"At least it's not as bad as your name." She whispered.

"_Joan_." Rilee called her name. Joan whipped around, eyes widening in shock. 

"I'm having class right now, can't you see?" Joan said between her teeth. It was the most imperfect time for God to show up. Grace was giving her furtive glances. "I'll talk to you later." 

"Did you tell me your name?" Rilee suddenly said. Her eyes took on a glazed effect, clouded by utter confusion. "How did I know your name?" Joan stared back at her, brows furrowing.

"What?" 

"Ladies!" The teacher slammed her hands down on the table. "Would you be so kind as to stop talking?" She breathed hard through her nose and then turned back to the board.

Joan stiffened and tried to ignore Rilee's eyes boring into her back. She picked up her pen and swivelled it between her ivory fingers. She pressed the pen onto the paper and began to scribble; little pictures sprang from the pen. She was oblivious to the teacher's incoherent ramblings.

"Wow, Joan." Adam's low voice shook her back to reality. "That's really good."

Joan didn't know what surprised her the most - hearing Adam say 'Joan' or him telling her that something she had created was good. She shook her head furiously and gestured at the teacher, making a motion to zip her mouth. Adam nodded and turned back to his desk.

Joan looked again at what she had drawn, comprehension dawning upon her. She flicked the papers round and noticed a steady pattern in what she had drawn. It was almost flag-like, an emblem of two wings surrounding a globe. Attached to the wings there were faces, bodies, arms - they were two angels. The globe was one of the earth - and there was someone holding the earth - and that person was none other than God.


	2. Lily White

Chapter two - Lily white

"Jeanne D'arc." Joan whispered to herself. She blinked profusely at the screen and moved her cursor over several links, each one revealing more. She knew that she shouldn't be researching personal information on the library computer, but the events of the day had been pushing in her mind. The vine bordered page was scripted with gold letters, almost nostalgic.

Joan clicked over the link that stated 'banner'. There was a picture of Jeanne's standard, a forked banner. Fumbling, Joan reached under her desk to retrieve her bag. She flipped open the sack and pulled out a half crumpled sheet nestled deep inside some folders. Her hands shaking, she smoothed it out on the table.

"Joan?" Her name was called.

"What's happening to me? What are you doing?" Joan said instinctively. Her ivory fingers traced the outlines of what she had drawn.

"I don't know. But you better get your ass behind the counter because I'm borrowing this book." It was Grace. Joan whipped round to face her, and sighed heavily.

"Sorry, I-" She shook her head "Thought you were someone else." Her long hair trailed like spider silk over the table.

"Right. Like who?" Grace asked nonchalantly. She slammed several books on the table.

"The law of physics? The atom structure?" Joan read the titles of the books, raising an eyebrow. She deliberately avoided Grace's question.

"Science project." Grace snapped.

"Nothing to do with Luke." Joan said, as a statement.

"Right." Grace nodded.

"Okay." Joan checked them out, watching as Grace silently fidgeted under her gaze. "Bring them back in three weeks."

"Thanks." Grace said sarcastically. She shoved the books into her book bag.

"Hey, what is up with you?" Joan suddenly said, loudly. Grace's attitude was disconcerting. She placed her palms on the table and forced Grace to look into her eyes. She saw anger, bitterness, and fear.

"You mean what's up with you." Grace said. "We're all worried about you, Joan. Even your brother." She started towards the door.

"Luke?" Joan said incredulously. She had noticed his quiet presence on the way to school today, how he had refused to talk to Grace before school, how he had ignored their parents.

"Delivery!" There was a chime at the door. A man clad in blue uniform entered, carrying a large bouquet of flowers.

"Oh." Joan said quietly. She never usually had this many customers in a day - normally it was only God who visited, but he hadn't even shown up yet. Deliveries were very rare at the library.

"You Joan Girardi? Just sign." The delivery man handed her a clipboard and a pen. Joan did, warily. The bouquet of flowers next to her had an aura that surrounded the entire desk. When the delivery man left, Joan noticed a small card hanging off the side of the plastic encasing. She cautiously ripped it open and read the note:

_Here's your army._

_Ryan._

Joan dropped the card, feeling his spirit burn her fingers. There was something incredibly spine-chilling about receiving flowers from an enemy. She tossed the card quickly in the trash. The lilies were pure, creamy and rich in colour. They seemed to vibrate in the room, giving off its own transient light. She debated for a while whether to place the flowers in water or to throw them away. Her nurturing side eventually won and she slowly placed the dozen lilies in a vase of water.

When she sat back down at her computer screen the image was still there. The piece of paper lying by the side of the mouse haunted here. She picked up the paper once again and held it to the screen. They both held the same images - two symmetrical angels, god holding the earth - Joan shivered involuntarily. Her eyes travelled down to the text on the screen:

_She further said that she loved her banner "better, forty times better" than her sword, and carried the banner into battle instead of a weapon.  
Elsewhere in the documents we learn that God was seated in the middle of the two angels, holding the world (pictured as an orb). Some accounts describe God blessing a lily, or the angels holding lilies. The phrase "Jhesus Maria" (or "Ihesu Maria") was described as being on one side of the standard rather than on the top or bottom._

"Lilies..." Joan gasped and turned around to see the proud lilies standing on the counter. Was that what Ryan had meant?


End file.
